Examines theoretical and conceptual issues around promoting the growth of virtual learning communities and considers issues around using communication technologies in formal and informal learning environments. Highlights include: the theoretical context of community; categories for examining virtual learning communities; emphases of virtual…

Discusses the issue of e-mail and employee privacy rights. Highlights include laws and proposed legislation, ethical dilemmas, task and nontask messages and organizational misconduct, and policy guidelines for decision making about e-mail monitoring. (AEF)

Identifies six stages adult learners pass through as they become confident using electronic mail. Understanding the stages of learning to use technology empowers the learner through the knowledge that feelings of tension and frustration will be overcome. (Author/AEF)

Investigated a computer-mediated support group for six breast cancer patients. Patients used home computers to connect to a computer bulletin board on which they read messages from and posted messages to each other. Patients discussed their medical conditions, shared personal concerns, and offered support. This online approach provided many…

Examines effects of teaching hypertext markup language on students' perceptions of class goals in a networked composition classroom. Suggests sending documents via file transfer protocol by command line and viewing the Web with a textual browser shifted emphasis from writing to coding. Argues that helping students identify a balance between…

Considers three important things that people need to make meaningful access to the new digital tools and media a reality: having access to the tools, the ability to use those tools, and an access point. Notes a literacy web page, offers questions for further consideration, and includes a glossary of important terms. (SR)

Provides an overview--especially for administrators, developers, and tutors new to electronic tutoring environments--of issues and considerations unique to online tutoring that training programs need to address. Discusses three aspects of online tutoring: appreciating text-only environments, developing procedures for responding online, and…

Offers a novel exploration of students' use of three Internet functions (information retrieval, information giving, and conversation capabilities) in the context of the use of other communication media. Demonstrates that the Internet is a multidimensional technology used in a manner similar to other, more traditional media. (SC)

Examines the effects of technological, pedagogical, and student characteristics on student learning in Internet-based MBA courses. Suggests that teaching expertise may be the primary criterion for teaching success in the online classroom environment and that instructors may need to spend more time developing and cultivating instructional skills…

Software agents are computer programs that run in the background and perform tasks autonomously as delegated by the user. This paper blends models from marketing research and findings from the field of decision support systems to build a framework for the design of software agents to support in e-commerce buying applications. (Contains 35…

Managers need to understand the tradeoffs associated with voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) networks as compared to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). This article measures the preference structures between IP telephony and PSTN services using conjoint analysis. The purpose is to suggest VoIP technology attributes that best meet…

Describes a computer-mediated teaching system called computer-aided personalized system of instruction (CAPSI) that incorporates a social constructivist approach, maintaining that learning occurs primarily through a socially interactive process. Discusses use of CAPSI in an undergraduate course at the University of Manitoba that showed students…

Discusses use of the Delphi technique and describes the development of an electronic version, called e-Delphi, in which questionnaire construction and communication with panel members was accomplished using the Web. Explains system function and interface and discusses evaluation of the e-Delphi system. (Author/LRW)

Describes ways that emerging technologies foster intersubjectivity within online graduate courses by allowing for multileveled communication attentive to students' diverse needs and styles. Topics include interface design; communicative aspects of asynchronous and synchronous discussion; building online communities; and shared knowledge.…

Considers how guided student internships are increasingly recognized as important elements of an academic program combining classroom and experiential learning. Discusses how working students might find the potentially valuable internship experience as another burden added to their already busy lives. Describes the format, components, and…